"Art buddies" (Adam and Kate)

[Deleted]

Adam couldn't remember the last time that he got to just hang inside the rather prestigious second cohort barracks and just work on his art without any sort of drill or training that he had to worry about. It was about 1 P.m and he had just gotten back from the mess hall and to his delight he had been the first to return back to the Barracks. Since he was alone, Adam got changed into a pair of cargo shorts and a rather worn camp shirt that already had a few paint marks on it.

Once he was changed Adam pulled his Easel from the corner and set it up in the middle of the room along with a wooden stool. He then walked over to his bed which had a large G.J & a large A.J carved into the wooden bed post. As Adam's good eye caught the carved letters he couldn't help but rub his hand over them with a small smile. Adam's father Gordon Jackson had also been in the second cohort and had slept in the very same bed that he was sleeping in now so just like his father had done before him,Adam left his initials. Once Adam was done admiring his handy work he went over to his trunk and pulled out a fresh canvas and his set of paints and different sized brushes. 

Once the young Legacy had all of his supplies out and had grabbed a cup of water to rinse his brushes he was ready to begin. Today's painting was going to very special to him because it was to be a portrait of the most precious person in his life which was his mother Julia Jackson. Adam started by mixing a few colors together to create his mothers pale skin tone in his paint tray and then began to carefully began to paint his mothers face with light gentle strokes with his smallest brush. He was going to make this a full body painting so that he could paint his mother as the goddess she deserved to be.

"I hope this turns out okay."

As the young Legacy painted he couldn't help but wonder what his barrack mates were up to while he was enjoying his favorite past time. It was very seldom that this particular cohort spent time together inside their barracks due to their different interests and ages but Adam had to admit he missed them and hoped they showed up soon.


paints

brushes

julia jackson

@caitlynashika

[Deleted]

Lunch had just let out. Caitlyn had sat behind, finishing off an apple before pondering what to do next. They didn't have another training session until later. Now that she thought of it, she actually had a block of free time. Nothing she'd really come to expect. The training had eventually gotten back to its usual speed, as the horrors of the war and government intervention moved past them. The repercussions faded into memory for some and haunted the lives of others. As for her, it was fifty-fifty. But, like the wars, she taught herself to move on. She faced that not everyone would ever be the same again, and she had made her peace with that. Traumatizing things happened in the life of a soldier. The only thing you could do was keep your head up and march on. She could never let herself drown in misery like her father had. She had to take care of him and herself. She had to take care of her friends and family here. She had to get strong: she threw her entire life into training. Would it prevent another war? No, but it could help her stay conscious and protect people.

However, even though she put that pressure on herself, she still had to remind herself that she was only fifteen. Kids her age in the mortal world were supposed to be having fun. Not that she was privileged to have fun or anything, but if she had some free time now... why not utilize it? When was the last time she had painted or drawn for fun? It seemed almost forever ago in her mind. You don't have to work all the time, she gently reminded herself. So, recreational art it was. On the way back over to her barrack, she took her red hair out of her usual, tight braid, and let it fall down in waves on her back. Upon opening the door, she realized that she wasn't the only one with a similar idea. Jackson, Adam; Legacy of Jupiter. He was also here, setting up to paint. "Hi, Jackson," Kate greeted, acknowledging her cohort-mate with a shy smile. "Would you mind if I joined you out here?"

 TAG: @adamjackson
IC: 373

[Deleted]

Adam couldn't help but turn his head when he heard the familiar young voice of one of his Cohort mates. When he turned his head he saw that it was the young Legacy of Apollo who he called Kate. Adam couldn't help but smile as Kate called him by his last name and asked if she could join him. Kate was the shy sort most of the time so it was nice to see the young Apollo leaving her shell even if it was just with someone in her cohort. Adam just nodded as she asked if she could join.

"Of course you can join me Kate. I love having company while I paint plus it's always good to have someones opinion who has two eyes instead of just one."

Adam then turned his head back to his painting and began to slowly finish his mothers cheeks and facial features. He then washed off his brush in his cup of water and then dipped his brush in his pale green paint and began to paint his mothers pale green eyes while stopping every so often to hold his paint brush in a vertical position between his eyes as a level to make sure everything was even. The problem was that his depth perception was all escue and so it was a bit hard to tell. In order to solve his problem he looked to Kate with a smile.

"What do you think? Are the eyes even? I can't tell."

In order to get a better view, Adam began to float off of his stool and then began to float upside down with his face level with the paintings face. Adam often floated upside down in order to better understand a difficult problem as he believed that it helped his blood flow better in his brain. Once he was done examining his painting he turned his body so that he was facing Kate, making sure to hover at face level with her while being upside down making sure to give her a big smile.

"Did you have a good lunch Kate? How has your day been going so far? If you would like to try your hand at painting instead of drawing I have extra canvases and paint holders in my trunk. I have plenty of paint and brushes to share. You can have my stool too. I am perfectly happy floating. It helps get all the angles."

Adam chuckled happily and then flipped himself right side up and then began to float in a cross legged position in front of his painting, picking his paint brush back up and continuing to work on his mothers eyes. Adam loved having Kate around despite her shyness. They had things in common and she made Adam feel not so alone.


@caitlynashika

[Deleted]

Kate had always been the quieter one in her family. Her father, mother, and brother were (or had been) more extroverted than she. From what she remembered, her father actually got her mother's attention while stealing her things and making a few obvious flirts. Her grandfathers themselves seemed to be more extroverted, charming types. For all of the charm Apollo and Mercury gave her brother, she got the opposite. Her brother (along with her father) had been the one to crack jokes and keep her spirit up during training. Kate and her mother would be giving them half amused, half exasperated looks. As her father had said, if you treated a situation only as serious, then that's the only thing it was: serious. Although war was no laughing matter, at least they could help a bit by keeping people's spirits up. Kate... Kate was far too serious for that. 

She gave a soft smile, setting up her easel a few feet away from her cohort-mate. "Thanks," she answered. She couldn't help but give a small, amused laugh. At least he could make some sort of joke about his eye. Again, being serious only lead to things being serious. She picked up one of her pencils and started to sketch out the Principia. This place had amazing architecture to study and to help hone her drawing skills. Proportions, dimensions, the whole thing. She remembered doing some building sketches with her mother. In the days before the Legion and war, they'd spend their days doing mild weapon and strength training, along with drawing and learning instruments.

At Jackson's question, Kate backed up from her own drawing and looked at his. By this time, she had gotten used to him floating up in the air (upside down, no less) for perspective. "The eyes look pretty even," she nodded, after a few moments of study. "Oh, it was nice... nothing over special," she mused, starting to fill in the roof. Ah, the Principia... perhaps one day she could rise to such a position. The thought had crossed her mind once or twice, but would then vanish as she much more liked the idea of becoming a librarian or teacher, and doing freelance performances and art displays. "No, thanks for the offer, though. Yeah, I bet it does," she said with a bit of a laugh. "Who're you painting?" she asked curiously, her mind running through the older females at the Legion.

Tag: @adamjackson
IC: 409

[Deleted]

Adam chuckled with joy as Cait said that the eyes on his painting were even. As his cohort mate told him about her day, the young airborne legacy couldn't help but feel happy in his heart. He loved hearing about his friends days and what they did to fill them. It made them feel more like a family instead of just soldiers. It made their lives all that more fun.  

As his friend declined his offer to use his paint Adam just shrugged and cleaned his brush off once more and then began to mix together a bit of red and a bit of orange to make a nice but light flame orange which he began to use to slowly paint his mom's out of control orange curly hair which he often used to pull or blow around as a young child. As Cait asked who he was painting, Adam finished his moms hair and then sat down his brush and quickly floated over to his bed. He then reached under his pillow and pulled out an old, worn and slightly torn picture. He then just floated over to Cait gently and held it out.

The photo was of the Jackson family. It had a very young Adam who was about age five with his mother Julia and his father Gordon. Adam was standing in front of his parents with a big smile which had a few baby teeth missing, two wide green eyes and wavy medium length brown hair who was giving a double peace sign to the camera. Behind him stood his parents. On the left Stood a younger Julia with her wild and large red curly hair and her pale green eyes. She had different colored paint splatters all over her cheeks and was using her left hand to make half of a heart.

Standing next to Julia was a young man with spiked up brown hair and pale green eyes with stubble on his chin. This man was just smiling a small closed mouth smile and was using his right hand to finish the heart. It was obvious by looking in the mans eyes that he had faced the life and battle of a demi-god. The family looked rather happy and innocent. Adam just smiled at Cait as he offered the picture.

"This picture was taken when I was five, five years before I lost my eye and my dad. My dad was a son of Jupiter as you know. He was actually in the second cohort. I actually sleep in his old bed, both of our initials are carved into the bed post. I'm painting my mom Julia. She's a mortal and was the one out of the two who instilled my creativity and love of the arts. I'm painting her as a way to honor the muses and the woman who helped raise me to be the man I am now."

gordon Jackson

@caitlynashika

[Deleted]

It was nice to get to know people outside the context of training or wars. It made all of them more human to each other. It gave them history and personality and a deeper sense of complexity. If you got to know people, they were no longer just faceless, last name, child soldiers who happened to be bonded by the fact they were descendants of the gods and all going through rough training together. It gave this place a different dimension. Of course, it all depended on wheater or not the people wanted to acknowledge the others in the camp as friends or not. Some were content to keep it formal, as soldiers, and that was fine, but Kate imagined that it must be rather lonely. Ten years was a long time to keep an emotional distance from everyone. Not saying it couldn't be done, she had seen a few people do it. Before the war, after the war, through their whole Legion career. She, herself, had tried after the second war, but it didn't work out and she ended up leaning on Nova and Mattie since she no longer had her brother or mother... or really even her father at that point. Had him physically, yes. Had him emotionally and mentally? Not really...

Kate's eyes darted along his painting, picking out the contours and studying the coloring. Art... different people's interpretation of different things. That's what she probably liked most about it. Hundreds of people could draw, paint, or sculpt something using a reference, but in the end, they'd have hundreds of different pieces. Everyone looked at everything differently. It was all just a matter of perspective. She supposed that's what she appreciated most about humans. Even if they didn't all agree, they all had their reasons, and she found that pretty fascinating. She looked down at the picture Jackson offered to her and took it gingerly. A family portrait. A very innocent one, by the looks of it. She had a similar one in her trunk. She took it out of the house after her father had threatened to burn it in one of his drunken rages. It was one of their family before she and her brother joined the Legion. Before the following years of hardship.

She gave a nod as he explained the portrait. Yes, she did know of his history from past records, rumors, and such. But not about him sharing the same bed as his father once had. That was pretty cool. She wondered if any other legacies shared that. It was almost like a passage, down the lines of demigods. A small smile flickered across her face as she looked at his mother in the photo. "She looks lovely," she said quietly, almost lost in thought. That's what her father would always compliment her mother or her. You look lovely, JJ. You look lovely, Nana. "It's nice you had such a good role model. I'm sure she'll appreciate it if she ever sees it." Although she had two wonderful role models as well, she had come to learn over time that it was not the case for everyone. Demigod and legacy's lives were seldomnly overflowing in happiness and wholeness.

Tag: @adamjackson
IC: 536

[Deleted]

Adam smiled as Kate complimented his mom. Adam had always thought that his mother was as beautiful as a goddess and that she deserved to be turned into a minor goddess so that she could make art through out the ages. Once Kate was done looking at the photo, Adam had a small breeze take it and put it back under his pillow with just a flick of his finger. He then scratched his chin and raised an eyebrow at his cohort mate.

"Ya know, We have known each other for years and it seems like you don't talk about your family all that much. I'm not gonna force you to or anything because I don't want to pry or make you uncomfortable or anything. I guess I'm just curious. What kind of stuff do you do besides draw when not doing Legion stuff? I wanna get to know you better! You're one of the few people around here that well..that gets me."

Adam blushed a bit at the admission and then noticed Kate's drawing pad and what she seemed to be drawing. The drawing had just started and yet it looked rather familiar to him as if he had seen it a hundred times. Adam scratched his head and flipped upside down for a moment for a different look at it before giving up with a snort before floating back right side up.

"I give up. What are you drawing? It looks so familiar like it's burned into my brain and yet it's not coming to me!"

Adam sighed and just sat cross legged in the air and crossed his arms and just went silent for a moment. He had to admit to himself that Kate was one of his favorites in the Legion aside from his girl friend,his uncle and his young friend Nora. He wanted to spend more time with her.

"Hey, forgive me if this sounds weird or whatever but would you like to maybe hang out outside of camp during our time off? We could go into New Rome and find something fun to do together. Like just as friends I mean. I gotta admit You are one of my favorite people in the Legion."

(sorry it's so short)

@caitlynashika

[Deleted]

Kate looked over as Jackson had his wind power gently replace the picture. She had to refrain herself from reaching out to catch it, her mind automatically telling her that it had escaped before correcting herself into remembering that Jackson was manipulating it. Even after all these years and even growing up in New Rome, she was still mesmerized by some of the powers. The novelty may have worn off some people, but not her. Especially when it was as rare as air manipulation. She looked up at the mention of family and gave a small shrug. "I lost all of my immediate family to the second titan war." Okay, lost two, and then lost another one in a different sense. Not the exception to the rule, she knew that plenty of people died giving service. It was just... what was expected, almost. Kinda. If you lived the life of a soldier, you signed on for fighting and possibly dying. She had come to terms with her mother and brother's deaths years ago. Slowly losing her father, though... that was a different matter. "Hm... I enjoy swimming, practicing music and teleporting, visiting the library, hanging out with Nova... I'm attempting forging. How about you, outside of painting and training?"

She tilted her head slightly as Jackson's form started to float upside down. Giving a slight laugh, she added one of the windows and started on the shrubbery. "The Principia. Valliant effort." She blinked up at him and nodded at his question. "No, I don't find that odd," she said, shaking her head. At least, she didn't since he was clarifying it as friends. If not, then yes... that would have been weird. "Sure. New Rome's a fun place to visit. I hear they have a decently priced art stall." One of his favorite people? She looked down shyly, busing herself with another shrub outside the door. She had always thought of herself as rather boring. Definitely not a favorite person.

Tag: @adamjackson
IC: 330

[Deleted]

Adam smiled and decided that while he listened to Kate tell him her interests and about her family he would watch her paint as he floated in the air next to her with his legs crossed. As she told him about she lost some of her family in the last war the young Legacy couldn't help but look down at the floor for just a moment. They had lost quite a few good people in the conflict. Once Adam took a deep breath he reached out and placed a hand on Kate's shoulder and gave it a small comforting squeeze.

"I swear to you that I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else in this cohort. I will use all my energy to make sure of that."

Adam most of the time acted like a violence hating hippy child but the truth was that he often held back his true power due to the fact that if he unleashed his full power he could easily destroy the camp with massive tornadoes or suck the air from his foes lungs. If the young hippy truly wanted he could become a force of nature. Most people who truly didn't know him wouldn't think twice but those who spent a lot of time with him like his cohort mates could see the strain his powers put on him at times.

As Kate told him what she liked to do Adam couldn't help but nod up until she got to the swimming. The thought of himself in the deep ocean made Adam visably shudder as she asked him what he liked to do himself besides art. The young Legacy just smiled.

"All that stuff sounds fun except for the swimming. I am fine when it comes to like swimming pools but I choose to stay away from the deep ocean for my own safety. I don't know about the other little big three's but I myself as a grand child of Jupiter stay out of Neptune and Pluto's domains. I can't get on boats because I get horribly sea sick and I never go under ground because I'm claustrophobic.

I know little Nora! We had lunch together awhile back and hung out awhile back. She told me all about her school days and stuff. Maybe we could invite her on our hang out day. As for what I like to do besides painting, I like to meditate in the woods, shop, I help take care of the woodland critters, I like to ride my staff like a skateboard and soar through the clouds. My favorite thing to do is hang out with my new girl friend Sophie. She got here really late because she was trapped in the Lotus Hotel since the dust bowl. Now that she's here I'm trying to teach her about our time. I don't even think she's been put in a cohort yet. She's a daughter of Venus."

Adam blushed a hot red blush at the very thought of Sophie. Once he was done blushing he smiled at Kate.

"So what are you thinking of doing after your painting is done."


@caitlynashika